What Japan taught me about design, order, and efficiency

TLDR;

• Traveling has become one of my favorite things to do because of what it teaches me about life and people.

• Japan's culture stands out for its design and orderliness, as well as its collectivism and efficiency.

• The Japanese prioritize group needs above individuals, have a strong sense of responsibility to maintain a clean environment, and value practical design.

• Americans can learn from Japan's culture of "no waste" and simplicity in beauty.

• We need more people in America who take pride in what they do, just like the Japanese.

• Japan's persona of order amidst innovation made me rethink my approach to real estate development.

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Intro

Over the years, traveling has quickly become one of my favorite things to do because I always come back as a different person. In this day and age, many people like to travel to get cool social media posts. I've found that I love it because of what it can teach me about life and people. This year, I traveled to a few different places. In the spring, my family and I spent a week in Japan in Tokyo and Kyoto. In the late summer, we visited some family in Spain and stopped by the south of France. I gained something from each of these trips, but what caught my attention most was my trip to the island of Japan. I want to highlight some things I learned from visiting one of the most refined societies on the planet.

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Japan's design and orderliness:

In March of this year, we visited Japan. The first thing that stood out to me upon arriving was the difference between their and American cultures. I've been to many other places where the culture is different, but Japan was on a different level. People were very respectful and took pride in what they did. It was easy to see that from the beginning because there was no trash on the streets despite having a very dense population within two of their biggest cities (Kyoto and Tokyo). It is much different than walking on the streets of New York or Los Angeles, where trash and homeless drug addicts are everywhere, even in the nice areas. 

The U.S. is a very abundant place: abundant land, abundant resources, and abundant wealth. Unfortunately, sometimes, this abundance leads to a sense of entitlement in which we are not responsible for working together to raise the country's standards. Instead, we believe the government owes us something because we live there.

Midjourney Prompt: Manga anime style cartoon of a city that looks like a pristine, clean and modern looking city that looks like Japan

I looked further into Japanese culture and noticed a few reasons why they are so respectful and orderly. I make it easy to understand below.